Save the Date!

Rub shoulders — and exchange business cards — with boldfaced names, power brokers, and high-minded celebs at the most influential schmoozefests on the planet. Get out there and network like it's your job!

WHAT IT IS:Annual confab of innovators, game changers, and sages who, in a series of 18-minute talks, share "ideas worth spreading." For this year's theme — young, undiscovered geniuses — TED conducted a worldwide talent search. Jealous yet?

WHY GO: Because you subscribe to magazines like GOOD and Harper's, eschew cable, and are toying with the idea of ditching your day job for a career in microlending.

COST: Not cheap — $7,500 to attend lectures at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, and be warned that it's notoriously tough to get into. Only 1,350 applicants are approved each year. (Hopefuls must answer six lofty questions and cite two personal references.) At the entry-level TEDActive, held simultaneously in Palm Springs, pay just $2,500 and watch the panels via live simulcast. Here again, you must be selected, but the bar is a bit lower. The trade-off: You don't get to hobnob with the big fish.

PRO TIP: Each year, 20 qualifying TED Fellows attend for free. All you have to do is be a young "world changer" who has shown "unusual accom- plishment" and "exceptional courage." Preferably you reside in a developing nation. Barring that, write a best seller featuring the phrase "how the brain works."

WHAT IT IS:Originally hatched in 1987 as a launchpad for bands, seven years later the buzzy gabfest-slash-showcase has added film and multimedia. Last year's big news: a surprise appearance by Kanye West and a keynote by Bruce Springsteen.

WHY GO: You're a burgeoning brand with 48,000 Twitter followers and a popular Tumblr. Where do you go from here?

COST: Last year, late registration for the nine-day, all-access "platinum badge" cost $1,395. (C'mon, you spent more than that to get to Burning Man.) Early-bird hipsters pay a fraction of that.

WHO YOU'LL MEET: Overfunded creators of geo-targeted social apps and the next YouTube sensation. (Who wants to meet the dude who auto-tuned Mr. Rogers?!)

ACTION PLAN: Interactive: Log several miles daily as you race between panels at the sprawling Austin Convention Center. Film: Wish you were at Sundance, where the real action is. Music: Hit 64 live shows in hopes of finding the next Alabama Shakes.

LODGE HERE: The SXSW site has a handy hotel-booking tool that opens for business this month. Your goal is to book the closest room possible. Try the Four Seasons, Courtyard by Marriott, or Hilton Austin. Don't bother renting a car — you'll want to be car-free for the nightly BBQ-and-beer binges.

HUNGRY GIRL: Franklin BBQ because it's the best, Hopdoddy Burger Bar for the killer condiments, Contigo for a foodie twist on Texas-ranch chow.

WHAT IT IS:The largest gathering of female bloggers, aimed partly at helping brands reach more eyeballs.

WHY GO: Kick-start your hipster mama blog by hunt-ing down backers, advertisers, and old hands who'll give you perspective on what a full-time blogging career is really like. (Hint: Volunteering pays better.)

COST: $298 for bloggers, $798 for companies, though single-day passes are available.

WHO YOU'LL MEET: That mommy blogger from Indiana who commented on your breast-feeding post, marketing reps from Procter & Gamble. This scene is more about reach than A-list names, so the stars of the BlogHer conferences are folks like The Budget Fashionista and Cheap Sally.

ACTION PLAN: Attend panel discussions about social media (how to make money), technology (how to make money), and writing (how to make money).

LODGE HERE: Last year the conference blocked rooms at the nearby Hilton and Sheraton.

HUNGRY GIRL: Depends on where the gathering is held, of course, but it's a safe bet that the nearest non-Starbucks espresso joint will be the unofficial hot spot for fueling all those clever tweets.

WHAT IT IS:The biggest contemporary art fair in the nation. Last year, more than 55,000 people turned up for the citywide orgy of art, performances, and parties. While there are Basel-timed happenings everywhere in Miami, the official Art Basel refers to only the fair in the Miami Beach Convention Center, featuring some 260 galleries from near and far.

WHY GO: You're a mid-level sales rep by day and avant-garde collagist by night looking for a deep-pocketed patron to save you from Etsy obscurity.

COST: Art Basel sponsors free public art, screenings, and lectures around Miami, but there is a roughly $40 general admission cost to enter the convention.

WHO YOU'LL MEET: Alt-celebs like Tilda Swinton, Sofia Coppola, and Adrien Brody, plus the occasional mega-A-listers like Diddy and Brad Pitt. Also on hand: big-shot collectors, celeb artists, gallery owners, socialites, Kim Kardashian look-alikes. (Last year there was even a contest.)

LODGE HERE: There's no hotel-room shortage in Miami Beach — except during these four days. Book early. Scenesters decamp at South Beach's Delano, SLS Hotel South Beach, The James, or the W. Art students: Find hotels for less than $300 a night at turontravel.com, the official agency for the event and bearer of special rates.

HUNGRY GIRL: Joe's for stone crab; Puerto Sagua because when in Miami, you have to eat Latin; and Pubbelly because where else can you find an Asian-themed gastropub?

PRO TIP: You might not think of a parking garage as a chic hangout, but 1111 Lincoln Road is a carport unlike any other. Designed in 2008 by architects Herzog & de Meuron, this glass-and-steel parking "boutique" integrates driving, eating, and shopping into one ridiculously stylish structure. Blow your credit limit at Alchemist and Coltorti, then mojitofy at the rooftop Juvia restaurant as you wonder, How is this place not in Dubai?